Crystal Snyder's Struggle to Stay, Part 2

Last week on West Virginia Morning, we met Crystal Snyder, a single mother of two who says she wants to stay in West Virginia, and raise her children here. As a single mom, it’s on Crystal to provide for her family, which is hard to do without a job. A couple of years ago, she lost her job at a T-shirt factory. That’s where Roxy Todd picks back up with Crystal’s Struggle to Stay story today.

We also hear about an invasive plant called Ailanthus Altissima, which is fast becoming a threat to native forests. It's also known as Tree of Heaven and is a tough urban tree that sprouts out of sidewalks. It came to the U.S. from China by way of England in the 1700s and it's now found in 40 states. The Allegheny Front's Kara Holsopple talked to Matt Kasson, an assistant professor of forest pathology at West Virginia University, about why Tree of Heaven has thrived here.

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In October of 2015, Crystal Snyder, a single mother of two, lost her job. She was working at a t-shirt factory in West Virginia. “There were no women who ran the machines. And so, I kind of raised hell because I wanted to run a machine. You know, I wanted to make more money. I wanted to have more responsibility.”

It’s nothing unusual to think about leaving your hometown after you graduate high school, but sometimes it’s not an option to leave, and sometimes, as we’ve heard, leaving can be difficult and expensive, too. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

President Donald Trump's Commission on the Opioid Crisis recently recommended that the president declare the opioid crisis a national public health emergency. The commission said that such a declaration could free up money to fight the epidemic.

Back in April, we aired a special report about the opioid epidemic here in Appalachia. So this week, we’re going to revisit that story to remember how some Appalachians became addicted, and what a battle for sobriety can be like.

Marshall University is receiving a grant to enhance an app created by an associate history professor.

The funding will help further develop the Clio app created by David Trowbridge. The app provides GPS-guided information on historical and cultural landmarks in small towns and large cities across the United States.